The Global Wind Energy Council released its global status report which predicts that international wind market are expected to grow by an average of 18% over the next five years

31.01.2007

The report released by the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) shows that international wind markets grew by 40.5% in 2005, generating some €12 billion euro (US$ 14 billion) worth of new generating equipment. In 2005 alone, 11.5 GW were installed worldwide, bringing the total up to 59.1 GW. This represents a growth of 24% in total installed wind capacity. While the EU is still the leading market in wind energy with 40.5 GW of installed capacity, other continents such as North America and Asia are developing at a staggering rate.

The Global Wind 2005 Report is the first in a series of annual reports by GWEC on the status of the global wind energy markets. The Global Wind Report (updated on a yearly basis) outlines the industry’s perspective on the development of wind energy around the world. The 50 pages report provides an account of developments in 14 individual countries on the 5 continents in which wind energy has become a mainstream power source or is expected to do so in the near future. In addition, the report contains GWEC’s projections for the industry up to 2010.

Global status and regional development…The total installed wind power capacity at the end of 2005 stands at 59,084 MW worldwide, an increase of 24 % compared to 2004. The countries with the highest total installed capacity are Germany (18,428 MW), Spain (10,027 MW), the USA (9,149 MW), India (4,430 MW) and Denmark (3,122 MW). India has thereby overtaken Denmark as the fourth largest wind market in the world. A number of other countries, including Italy, the UK, the Netherlands, China, Japan and Portugal have reached the 1,000 MW mark of installed capacity.

The biggest developments are still ahead…Until the end of the current decade, the cumulative capacity of wind energy installations is predicted to reach 134.8 GW, more than double of the present installed capacity. The average annual cumulative growth rate during the period 2005-2010 will be 18 %, compared with 28 % during the period 2000-2005. The annual installed capacity is predicted to reach 17.8 GW in 2010, an increase of 55 % from the 11.5 GW installed in 2005. This implies an average annual growth rate of 9.1 % for the global wind energy market. The growth could be much bigger but, at least in the near future, is limited by the production capacities of the manufacturers. In most markets, the current delivery time for machines is at least two years.

The GWEC forecast predicts that Europe will continue to be the most important market, but with smaller share than in the past. In 2005, Europe only accounted to 55% of the global market, down from 72% in the previous year, and this trend will be further accentuated up to 2010. The total installed capacity in Europe should reach 77.6 GW by 2010, representing 57% of the total global capacity.

The offshore market is only expected to take off on a large scale towards the end of the decade. At the end of 2005, almost 700 MW were installed offshore in only 5 countries, all located in the European Union.

The message from the Global Wind 2005 Report is clear… Wind energy has become a global business and it is rapidly developing into a mainstream power source in developing and developed countries. It a vital technology for responding to the key energy challenges of our time: security of supply, secure growth, climate change, increasing energy demand and volatile fossil fuel prices.

The growth potential for wind energy in new markets is enormous. However, after decades of massive financial, political and structural support to conventional technologies, wind power remains at a competitive disadvantage. As a result, political support both at national and at international level is key to the global success of wind energy. As with any other energy source, the wind power market is largely driven by policy and markets only exist where policy support is enacted.

Political action is needed to overcome these distortions and create a level playing field.

EWEA is the voice of the wind industry, actively promoting wind power in Europe and worldwide. It has over 600 members, which are active in over 50 countries, making EWEA the world's largest and most powerful wind energy network.